John’s Restaurant & Tavern

I give the place 4 stars, but selectively. The good news is the outdoor patio, a small but wonderful revolving selection of craft beers and a few very good dishes. I think the meat is good quality. I like the ribs (meaty, the sauce is average), patty melts w/​grilled onions (my favorite), the Reubens, sweet potato fries and buffalo chicken salad. The small town feeling at the bar area in the restaurant can feel very clique-​ish. I once sat there, while the owner poured special free wine samples to his buddies on both sides of me – making me feel a little like chopped liver. But of the three — count them three — dining spots in downtown Winfield this is the best for the money.

Went on Friday night. Got the two piece fried fish dinner. Received two small previously frozen dried out hockey pucks and a very small well done potato. Bathrooms are gross. Big red flag for me. Wanted to like this place. Husband ordered The Friday night baked fish special. They were out of it already. It was 545. Hmmmm

Stopped in here for a quick drink when we were ridiculously early for a wedding. We were impressed with their on tap beer selection, and both ordered a beer. Service was great! Efficient and friendly. It seems like they have a second bar area in the back? and also an outdoor patio.
I was surprised to see how many families were coming in to eat! It seems to have a loyal following for the food, and everything that went by me looked good. Might have to come back for that!
When we were done with our beer, the bartender was gone helping to serve food, so it took a little longer to close out and leave, but it’s understandable. I’d prefer that than them just ignoring a person and talking. We were in and out in 25 minutes, so I’d gladly review them again once we get to stay longer!

The owner here is great.
You cant go wrong with the food here or the great selection of beers.
We are always greeted when walking in, and sat right away.
Enjoyed everything we have ordered.

johns service is HORRIBLE. kitchen is dirty and has bums working in the kitchen. i wouldnt let my 3 legged Chihuahua eat this food

I’ve been driving past this place very regularly and finally decided to give it a try. My boyfriend went on a Sunday and we sat outside. It was a nice day and we were able to snatch the last table out on the patio. We looked over the menus and I liked that they had a very nice variety of beers to choose from. Sitting outside with a few brews on a nice day is always great. I didn’t mind the noise from the passing freight trains and metra trains.
I ordered a burger and my boyfriend got the jerk chicken sandwich. My burger was ok, nice and juicy, but my boyfriend didn’t like his sandwich, he felt there wasn’t enough «jerk» to it. We are ordered a few more beers and then we decided on dessert, banana cream pie. Pie was delish.
Nice patio area, nice staff, ok food and a very good beer selection.

So now some rummy is taking potshots at me over my review of this dump.
This site is uncensored so I won’t repeat what he said — but this internet-​troll decided to give me the high hard one because i dislike two places he apparently likes.
Amazing how brave we are behind the keyboard.
Another reason to never go back there again.
What a dump.

This is a solid spot. The beer selection is excellent. The duck bacon grilled cheese is quite good. Meat-​loaf sandwich is good and onioneee. A Very good Neighborhood spot. I consider Winfield a Neighborhood. Some consider it a village. Family friendly never to crowded..

I’ve been here to eat three times now. Last of which had bad service so only giving 3 stars. Food and prices are great. My last waiter was plain rude. Other waitress had to take our drink order. We waited 10+ minutes after getting drinks for our waiter to show up. The waiter went pass our table 5+ times without even acknowledging us. Finally he asked if we were ready to order. I replied yes I’ve been ready for 5 minutes. He replied «What does that mean?» and gave me an evil look. I explained that we’ve been ready. He said «Well I can come back later.» And tried to walk off. I had to wave him to come back and to prevent him from walking off. So yeah all the attitude killed our nice meal for Valentines Day Lunch. (No they were not busy.) I’ll never go back to this place again.

Been here a couple of times, and not that impressed. I love burgers so both times I came here I decided I would try it, and give it a second try. The burger isn’t seasoned at all or very well, and seemed kinda dry both times which is a huge bummer. The bun they choose to place this under seasoned and dry burger is way to big and doughy for that type of protein. The soup I had was decent and so were the fries, so at least I haven’t left hungry.

Our first time hanging out at John’s over the weekend, and I ended up ordering the Fish Tacos — they’re on the Appetizer menu, but they are a great entrée for one person. The blackened tilapia and spiced mayo with toppings were this perfect blend of salty/​sweet. Not shy either on the fish helping in the taco either! I requested mine with the corn tortillas, and I have to say, my table companions were enjoying their burgers, but a bit envious of my dish.

We had purchased a «Groupon» for this restaurant bar for $ 17.00 which allowed us to purchase $ 30.00 worth of food & drinks. We where seated right away. The waiter greeted us around 5 minutes later. We placed our order for an appetizer of fried mushrooms and our main corse of fried fish and a steak sandwich. We waited about 20 minutes for our appetizer, it was delivered with our main corse, not what we wanted. The appetizer should come before the main corse is delivered. After we started eating my wife noticed a large lipstick smudge on my soft drink glass which means the cleaning of glasses is not up to par. I told the waiter who said he was sorry and brought me another drink. A few minutes later we noticed a man behind the bar, maybe the owner or manager, yelling at our waiter for some unknown reason. This could have been related to our table, not sure.
As far as the food goes, my fish was very dry. I think it was frozen and not fresh, three breaded squares. My wife’s steak sandwich was tough .
This was our first time at John’s and our last time.

John’s is the place to be! Ridiculous beer selection, actually met the brewer of one of the beers I was drinking!
When you’re in, make sure to ask owner Johnny to tell you a joke!

John’s is wonderful! The atmosphere is a little dark (pub-​feel), so I recommend this place more for dinner than for lunches. Their food is top-​notch. We’ve tried a variety of things on their menu and have found everything to be delicious.
The waiters are always prompt, patient when we order, and refill our sodas before we even ask.
Definitely recommend.
Edit: Get the banana crème pie!!! It is amazing.

Surely NOT !!! TERRIBLE !! STAY OUT !! Find a better place…
Thursday, July 17, 2014 stopped in with three friends for a quick bite. We got seated quickly in the outdoor garden. Place was not packed. We waited a least 10mins for waitress to come to our table. We all ordered sandwiches, easy. One also ordered hot wings with his sandwich. The hot wings came out in reasonable time frame. The waitress set them down and left. we were to busy talking to notice that none of us had silverware. After waiting over 5 mins I went inside and asked for place setting from another waitress.
It has now been over 20mins since we ordered our food. I ask another waitress if she can check on our order and get out waitress. It was another 5mins and finally our waitress come to our table. I advised her we have been waiting over 45mins for our food. She apologized and tried to stress that they are having a big party that is taking a lot of her time. I had to keep my composure, but replied that it has nothing to do with our order. I then asked her to just cancel our orders and we were gonna leave. She left and returned within 1 min. she advised us that our food was ready and would be out in a few mins. We informed her to make them to go. Another 5mins goes buy and she returns with our to go bags. Now were all stemming. What horrible non customer service we received.
We followed the waitress inside by the serving station. At that time I noticed a man that had a goatee, behind the bar staring at us. I asked him if he was the manager, he said he was. I then ask him was he just gonna stair at us behind the bar? or come over and talk to us regarding the ridiculous long wait. He states «that he is gonna stay there behind the bar» We advise him that he should be making contact with all of us for the horrible long time it took to get our food, they were just a few sandwiches and burgers. He then stated that they were busy with a party. We then told him that everyone in the facility was important. What a joke this useless non caring individuals way of handling the situation. We were all pretty ticked… we paid our waitress and gave her an exceptional tip even though the service was a –10. NONE OF US WILL EVER COME BACK HERE. WE SUGGEST ALL Unilocal READERS FIND A DIFFERENT RESTAURANT.
In closing, who ever is the owner or district manager of this place should FIRE the manager with the goatee that was there the night we were there. If it was my place I would throw him out on his A$&! If the restaurant his his place, you wont make it with your selfish pompous attitude. All places are successful if they have exceptional customer service. This place does not!

I like this place! The folklore ledgend is that this was a Speakeasy in the 20’s. The building is certainly that old. Their burgers are top notch. I believe they get their ground beef from Wheaton Meat Company so it’s legit. They have a great fish fry on Friday. Good sweet potato fries too!
I love their outside patio. Nicely done and I like hearing and seeing the freight and Metra trains pass through.
Great beer selection and their wine choices are not shabby either. On certain nights they have ½ off their premium wines. They also have live music some nights and beer and food pairing events too.
This is not a destination restaurant but for what it is, I like it.
Four stars because if you go at an off time, service can be spotty and a bit slow.

Not a bad place. Growing up in the area, my father would take us here a few times a month. Knowing it as «John’s Buffet», I will still continue to refer to it as such. Throughout the years, John’s has remained consistent with both customer service and their food preparation, which is much appreciated in today’s world of «will this visit be as good as the last time?» for many establishments. I can always count on John’s to deliver great food, a comfortable atmosphere, and friendly servers.
As a tween and having a rather picky palate back then, I would only order their pizza soup. To this day, the pizza soup is as delicious as I remember it. It’s a tomato soup with sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, and pepperoni, and topped with mozzarella cheese. (You’ll have to pick around the mushrooms, as it’s pre-​made). I definitely recommend this soup!
Most recently, I tried a cheese quesadilla with Italian beef, roasted red peppers and pepperoncini. Yep, you heard me; Italian beef on a quesadilla. Sounds odd, but it’s fabulous! The only thing I wish they did differently is use only mozzarella for this type of quesadilla instead of the cheddar/​mozzarella blend. M had the bacon cheeseburger quesadilla, which is equally as good.
The Johnny Nachos with everything (chicken, steak, and chorizo) and Bruchetta are fabulous as well. Definitely want to try a «Stairway to Heaven» burger (½ pound burger topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, fried egg, and finished with heavenly brown gravy) and the «Burn Your Butt» burger (½ pound burger topped with pepper cheese, a grilled jalapeño, and a dollop of salsa all on a garlic buttered bun, with chipotle mayo) someday. A friend ordered the Stairway to Heaven burger once and we jokingly asked him what he wanted his tombstone to say. It looked so good but it also made my arteries cry just from looking at it.
On nice days, it’s enjoyable to eat out on the patio, if you don’t mind all the train traffic. Growing up in Wheaton and living near the train tracks, it’s something I’ve grown used to and can easily tune them out. On the inside, there is ample seating and a cozy bar and a great beer menu. Their website lists an «On Deck» section of brews coming soon; make sure you follow them to receive notifications of when they are available. The Bloody Marys are good (make sure you ask for it spicy, if you prefer). I wish they came in a pint glass, though.
John’s has been around for almost 100 years now, and I’m glad to see this little gem still doing so well in downtown Winfield. If you’re in the area, I definitely recommend you stop on by.

Ate here last night. The meal was an overall disaster.
The dinner salad was puny, mostly white-​ish iceberg lettuce, and served with a tiny cup of watered down blue cheese dressing. No bread was offered.
My salmon was dreadfully overcooked. The outside was dry, the inside was on the verge of dry. The baked potato was puny and had black spots. The vegetables were overcooked and I think boiled.
I told the waitress about the salmon, and she apologized but did nothing about it. My dinner companion went to the manager and asked for some consideration. They took half off the cost of the salmon dinner. I probably should’ve gone up there myself, because I would not have settled for anything other than a free meal… Although I would hardly call it a meal because I took the potato and salmon home to feed my dog.
To top it off I had ordered a piece of their supposedly special banana cream pie. It was also puny, the crust was soggy, the bananas were brown and it lacked flavor.
And if that wasn’t enough the place is loud, noise reverberates, and it had a very musty smell last night. I think this will be my last visit.
I will add a sidenote. Our waitress said she was not old enough to drink so could give me no advice regarding a choice of beer. I did ask for a particular brand on the menu, and she said «oh we just ran out of that yesterday.» However she was the one who brought our beverages to our table. I’m pretty sure that is not legal.

Out of tilapia aka. out of fish tacos???
What to do?
Whoas me …
Apparently, the last 50 times in to grab some delicious fish tacos, kept me away from some pretty awesome stuff on their menu!
Meatloaf sandwich!
Perfectly toasted and soft bun
Juicy and flavorful meatloaf
Sweet caramelized onions
Melty cheese perfection
yummy
Add to that, what I would argue to be the tastiest sweet potato fries ever. Ever, anywhere.

Its a truly crappy dump. Has the old school dirty pub atmosphere including terrible service, sloooooow kitchen and bad food.
I got excuses from the inattentive waiter about the slow «new cook», but the whole thing basically svcked.
Don’t waste your time or $$$.